Army Life: The Other Side Of The Story

A young boy shivers, rain dripping down his mud-streaked face. His eyes are wide and fixed. Another joins him, also dressed in combats, and pours him tea from a flask. Soon he's surrounded by comrades, sitting silently, checking their rifles.

'This is belonging' says the screen. 'Army: Be the best. Find where you belong, search Army Jobs.'

A scene follows with a line of soldiers traipsing up a mountain slope. One of them trips, and is helped up. Another begins to sing 'I'm having the time of my life.' 'You sound like a dying cow' jests a comrade, and they all chuckle, trudging on together.

'This is belonging' says the screen. 'Army: Be the best. Find where you belong, search Army Jobs.'

These videos form part of a £3m campaign launched by the Army at the start of 2017, in an appeal to children (under eighteen year olds by international standards) and young people.

The theme is belonging, also emphasised by sports teams, religious groups, gangs and other entities in which conformity and distinction are key. It appeals in particular to adolescent children, who are undergoing the most intense phase of their social identity formation.

All the instability and changes adolescents face, are compounded by their under-formed social identities. They tend to over-identify with others or with groups in order to gain a sense of security and belonging.

By appealing to the desire to belong, the Army have therefore latched onto a very powerful recruitment tool, in particular among adolescents who feel isolated or marginalised.

But the reality is many aspects of Army life are potentially harmful, especially to vulnerable individuals. The other side of the story needs to be told.

According to the same young veteran, 'when you leave the Army... you don't feel like you can identify with either [civilians or the military]... so you sort of feel very alone, and vulnerable.' His experience is far from unique. Isolation and loneliness are widely known to affect many veterans upon return to civilian life. Many are at risk of depression, self-harm and suicide - and the younger they sign up, the more likely they are to face mental illness later on.

"Adolescence is a key phase for finding your identity, through who you spend time with and what you do together. It's quite usual for adolescents to be concerned about 'fitting in'. But if an adolescent feels very lonely and isolated, it's really important that they can be offered a range of ways to connect with others.

It's also vital for good well-being that young people feel authentically themselves in whichever group they belong to. If young people feel they are unable to express certain emotional experiences and values, or inside don't agree with some of the group behaviour, in the longer term this will just make the sense of isolation worse."

When adolescents sign up looking to quench their desire to belong, it is therefore crucial that they are aware of the more problematic sides of Army life, and of the ways in which they can seek help if they are feeling lonely or isolated.